5/26/08

I've always wanted to make giant chocolate chip cookies, but I didn't want large and flat, I wanted big and thick.
Mainly because I'm so inspired by the world famous chocolate chip cookies sold at Levain Bakery in NYC.
Have you heard of them? Been there?
The owners of Levain did a Throwdown with Bobby Flay. I loved that one and I watched it with an eagle eye when they were in their kitchen, trying to spot secret ingredients--no such luck!
One of the best cookies I've ever had.
How to describe how good they are?
Crisp crust, almost-chewy inside, light in texture but dense (like a light shortbread with a hint of cakeness), very dense in flavor.
No one knows their recipe, it's a best kept secret, but there are some really good clones out there that come very very close to it.
After some research I found a recipe at Cookie Madness.
Someone said, along the way that Levain Bakery does not put the vanilla extract in, I seriously want to try that next time to see what it tastes like, and maybe a hint more salt.
One thing that I noticed, is they (the bakery) have confection ovens, so I know that makes a huge difference in making a really good crisp crust around the cookie.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars just until creamy. Don’t overbeat. Add the egg and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. (I don't have a mixer so I did this by hand).
Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. When thoroughly mixed, add to batter and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
The dough needs to be chilled, so you can divide cookie balls out now and chill or cover bowl and chill. I made the cookie balls, set them on the baking sheet, and put sheet in fridge for about an hour.
Divide dough into 12 big 4 oz lumps. Bake on ungreased cookies sheets (one sheet at a time). (I chilled my dough balls BEFORE baking)

Bake times (I chose the latter):
Put the cookies in a 375 degree oven and set timer for 8 minutes. When timer rings, without opening oven or removing cookies, reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until cookies appear set.
Otherwise, you can bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until done.
(Mine did 24 minutes, but I have a convection oven)
Makes 12 (mine made 14)

I have heard so much hype about the Levain cookies yet somehow have not managed to get my butt over there to try one. I am with ya on "big and thick" chocolate chip cookies. Definitely the way to go - these look incredible.

I tried two different batches of these using various temps and times and neither one rised. The first, using your times, came out flat and burnt. The second were flat and mushy. Could be bad baking powder, I suppose.

I just tried your recipe exactly as posted--first made the dough without the vanilla, but didn't like the taste, so added it--along with 2 other highly rated recipes from allrecipes, and yours was the best. It had a distinctively deeper butter flavor, and the texture was just right. I did bake them at 325 in my convection until the edges were golden, but did all 3 recipes exactly as posted and yours came out on top! Thanks so much!

I made these and they turned out WONDERFUL, first I baked 6 Large ones 4 oz each, then I divided the other 6 balls of dough and made 12 cookies out of it, they were still Monster Size Cookies, only thing is my hubby doesnt like sweets so much and thought there were too many choc. chips in them, so next time I will just use 1/2 bag of semi sweet chips, and will have more of the cookie taste to them. I will definitely make these again. They are the best cookies EVER... Thanks for the recipe.

Actually, that cookie recipe was created by a girl named Lisa and she posted it and talked about it in the comment section at Su Good Sweets back in February. You can see the whole process of how she came up with it at http://www.sugoodsweets.com/blog/2006/04/levain/

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com